Where Are You?

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Imagine you've just made the biggest mistake of your life. Your heart pounds as you hear footsteps approaching—someone who trusted you completely is coming to find out what you've done. Your first instinct? Hide. Run. Disappear. This is exactly where we find Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, and their story reveals something profound about human nature and God's incredible heart.

Let’s take a moment to read Genesis 3:8-24:

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hidfrom the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraidbecause I was naked; so I hid.”

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. 

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of lifeand eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

REFLECT

When Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden, they didn't run toward Him—they ran away. After eating the forbidden fruit, their first response was to hide among the trees. This wasn't just physical hiding; it was the beginning of humanity's tendency to retreat from God when we mess up. They covered themselves with fig leaves, as if homemade clothing could somehow cover the shame of broken trust.

But here's what strikes me most: God didn't storm through the garden like an angry parent. He called out, "Where are you?" Not because He didn't know—God isn't playing cosmic hide-and-seek. He was giving them an opportunity to come forward, to own their choices, to begin the journey back to relationship.

When God finally found them (which, let's be honest, wasn't hard for the all-knowing Creator), watch what happens. Adam doesn't just confess—he deflects.  In one sentence, Adam manages to blame both Eve and God Himself. Eve follows suit, pointing the finger at the serpent.

This blame-shifting reveals something deeply human about us. When we're caught in our failures, our instinct is often to minimize our role and maximize everyone else's. Adam and Eve show us that this tendency is as old as humanity itself. They teach us that taking responsibility for our actions is one of the hardest—and most necessary—steps toward healing.

God's response to their disobedience contains both justice and mercy. Yes, there are consequences—pain in childbirth, difficulty in work, eventual death. But embedded within the judgment is a promise that changes everything. God speaks to the serpent about a future offspring of the woman who will crush his head. Bible scholars call this the "first gospel"—the first hint that this isn't the end of the story.

Even more telling is what God does next. Before banishing them from Eden, He makes clothes for them from animal skins. Think about this image: the Creator of the universe, kneeling down to clothe His children who had just betrayed His trust. Their flimsy fig leaves weren't adequate protection, so God Himself provided what they needed. This is grace in action—undeserved care in the moment of deserved punishment.

Adam and Eve's failure wasn't a footnote in God's plan—it was part of the larger story He was writing. Their mistake didn't cause God to start over or give up on humanity. Instead, it set the stage for the greatest rescue mission in history. From this moment forward, every page of Scripture points toward God's relentless pursuit of His people, culminating in Jesus coming to finish what was promised in that garden.

This gives us incredible hope for our own failures. When you mess up—and you will—remember that God isn't surprised, isn't scrambling for a Plan B, and hasn't given up on you. Your mistakes don't disqualify you from His love; they often become the very places where His grace shines brightest.

Adam and Eve remind us that we're all part of this ongoing redemption narrative. Just as God pursued them in their hiding, He pursues us in ours. Just as He provided for their needs even in their failure, He provides for ours. And just as their story didn't end with exile, ours doesn't end with our mistakes.

You're not a footnote in God's story—you're a main character. Every failure, every moment of shame, every time you want to hide among the trees is an opportunity for God to demonstrate His relentless love. He's still writing your story, and the best chapters may still be ahead.

RESPOND

Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.

• Where do you tend to "hide among the trees" when you've made mistakes? What would it look like to move toward God instead of away from Him in those moments?

• In what areas of your life do you need to be reminded that your failure didn't end your story? How might God be pursuing you with love even in your current struggles?

REST

Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:

Father, thank You that my failures don't surprise You or disqualify me from Your love. Help me to stop hiding when I mess up and instead run toward Your grace. Give me the courage to take responsibility for my actions and the faith to believe that You're still writing a beautiful story with my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.